Pocono Summit man charged in Aug. double murder in Coolbaugh Park

Friday

Sep 21, 2012 at 12:01 AMSep 21, 2012 at 10:25 AM

Luis Vasquez, of Pocono Summit, is charged with fatally shooting two other men in Coolbaugh Township Park in August. Vasquez owed one of the victims $20,000, according to information gathered by Pocono Mountain Regional Police.

ANDREW SCOTT

The man charged with fatally shooting two other men in Coolbaugh Township Park in August owed one of the victims $20,000, according to information gathered by Pocono Mountain Regional Police.

Police said they caught a lucky break in the investigation almost three weeks after the murders, when a passerby spotted a discarded black duffle bag containing the handgun they now say Luis Vasquez, 28, of Pocono Summit, used to fire multiple shots into Bertoldo Velez, 55, and Joseph King, 38, both of Stroud Township.

Velez's head had been smashed open with a rock found at the scene.

The duffle bag containing the gun, clothes, shoes and a box of latex rubber gloves, was found in a drainage ditch 100 yards from Vasquez's home, police said. Vasquez was charged Thursday after ballistic and DNA test results on the bag and items inside came back.

Vasquez went to meet Velez in the park, located on Route 423 across from Tobyhanna Army Depot, on the night of Aug. 16 to pay what he owed Velez, police said.

Though it's unclear specifically what caused that meeting to turn fatal, Police Chief Harry Lewis said Velez had supplemented his income by loaning money to people and that King was Velez's "bodyguard."

All three men worked at United Envelope, which makes envelopes, in Mount Pocono.

An officer on patrol at 2:38 a.m. Aug. 17 found the bodies in and outside of Velez's 1997 Chevy Cavalier parked in a gravel parking area to the park's athletic fields. King was found in the passenger seat and Velez was found on the ground next to the driver side door.

Six Winchester-manufactured .45-caliber cartridge casings and three bullets were found on scene. At a subsequent autopsy, two more bullets were taken from King's body and an additional third from Velez's clothes, police said.

An affidavit of probable cause gives the following account:

Velez's son, Roy Velez, told police that his father had been having a hard time collecting the money Vasquez owed and that he had argued with Vasquez over debt in the past.

Roy Velez said he, his father and King had met with Vasquez more than a week prior to the murders to collect the debt and that Bertoldo Velez threatened Vasquez.

Tara Lynch, King's girlfriend and the mother of his weeks-old child, told police King had sent her text messages at about 8 p.m. Aug. 16, telling her he and Velez were meeting someone at the park to collect money owed to Velez.

Lynch said King told her they were going to wait only 10 minutes and then leave.

Lynch said King sent her no further text messages after 8 p.m. and that, when he didn't return home overnight, she suspected the worst.

Roy Velez told police he tried calling his father from about 8:30 p.m. Aug. 16 into the early morning of Aug. 17 and got no answer. He said his father also didn't return home, which was very unusual.

Vasquez told police he had worked at United Envelope for the past eight years and had known Bertoldo Velez for the past six. He said he owed Velez about $10,000 (not $20,000 as Roy Velez claimed) and paid $300 every 15 days. Police said it was unclear what the money was loaned for.

When asked what he did Aug. 16, Vasquez said he left home at 4 p.m. Julia Hernandez and Estuardo Vasquez, who had been living with him, said he left at 6 p.m. and that he claimed he was going to help a friend move a large-screen TV.

Vasquez said he dropped his wife at her job at Johnson & Johnson in Tobyhanna, filled a propane tank at American Hardware in Mount Pocono and then arrived at the park at 4:30 p.m. to watch a soccer game.

He said he parked his vehicle in the exact area where police estimate the murders occurred between 8:15 and 8:30 p.m. and where police found fresh tire impressions the next morning.

Vasquez said he returned home at 6:30 p.m., though Hernandez said it was 9 p.m.

Vasquez's cellphone records show his phone was hitting off the cell tower at Routes 611 and 423, near the murder scene, between 7:03 and 8:21 p.m., meaning he was in that area just prior to and during the murders.

Vasquez said he went back out to buy milk at 9:30 p.m. at Walmart in Mount Pocono. He said he was wearing blue cargo shorts, a green T-shirt and a green Boston Red Sox baseball hat, but Hernandez said he was wearing jeans and carrying a black backpack.

Police still didn't have enough to charge Vasquez.

Then, on Sept. 4, Richard C. Labar was walking on Vacation Lane in Stillwater Lakes, about 100 yards from Vasquez's Thunder Drive home, when he found the discarded duffle bag containing the .45-caliber handgun and other items and called police. The items in the backpack included a pair of jeans with reddish brown stains on them.

Ballistic and DNA testing were performed on these items, along with the rock from the murder scene. The blood from the stains on the rock, as well as on the jeans and a T-shirt from the backpack, matched Velez's DNA, while Vasquez's DNA was found on the T-shirt and other items.

Armed with this additional evidence, police arrested Vasquez Thursday without incident at his job. He was charged with two counts of murder and one count of tampering with evidence, placed in Monroe County Correctional Facility without bail and will appear in district court at a future date.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.